Containers are known for substances such as solid foods and drinks, such as tins or cans, having a lateral surface, a bottom and an upper wall, opposite the bottom, all made of aluminum, steel or alloys thereof.
The upper wall, which acts as a lid, has a closed line of weakening, which defines the contour of a closing element, which functions as a stopper, and a corresponding aperture. A lever, normally provided at one end with a lifting eyelet, is associated with the stopper and can be inclined to cause the detachment of the stopper from the remaining part of the lid, along said line of weakening. The stopper is then bent towards the outside and completely removed. The disadvantage of these known containers is that, when they are open, the lever and the stopper are completely separate from the container and can be dispersed in the environment, polluting it and at the same time constituting a danger for those who accidentally come into contact with them.
A container for drinks of a known type which solves this problem has the line of weakening which is not closed on itself. In this case, to open the stopper, driving the lever causes the stopper to bend over, along the line of weakening, inside the container, through the relative aperture. In this way, however, the external part of the stopper, which is not normally protected from external contamination, is put in direct contact with the substance inside the container, with a serious risk for the health of whomsoever then ingests the substance, thus rendering ineffective the precautions with regard to sterility with which the container has been filled with the substance and sealed.
The need to eliminate the potential contamination of the substance in the container is the subject of new health regulations on a world-wide level, which expressly forbid the production and marketing of containers which have a stopper, potentially contaminated, that can come into contact with the substance located inside the container.
To satisfy these regulations, and to prevent the stopper from being dispersed in the environment, it is known to make containers with a so-called hygienic stopper, which opens towards the outside of the container and which remains connected to the container even when it is open.
One example of a known container has the line of weakening closed and has a metal tongue of a flexible type, attached by one end to the upper wall and also attached both to the stopper and to the lever.
By rotating the relative lever in a clockwise direction, the stopper is cut and bent to the outside of the container but, thanks to the flexible tongue, it remains solid with the container. The disadvantage of this known container is that the lever, because of how it is disposed and made, cuts and removes the stopper by means of a tear-away action which, since it requires an overall effort greater than other known containers, is disadvantageous and not very practical.
Purpose of the present invention is to achieve a container for drinks which allows to remove the stopper from the aperture in such a manner as to guarantee good hygienic conditions of the drink inside the container, that is, which has a hygienic stopper, that the stopper remains solid with the container, so that it is not dispersed in the environment, and that it is practical and does not require great effort to remove the stopper.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.